storyatelier_ 's review for:

The Eights by Joanna Miller

4.5

emotional hopeful inspiring medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

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Oxford, 1920. Women are allowed to matriculate into the esteemed university for the first time. In Corridor Eight of St Hugh’s, four very different women meet and become fast friends: Marianne, Otto, Dora, and Beatrice, who call themselves The Eights. Each carries her own scars from the recent war, and each has her own goals for pursuing a degree at Oxford. All around them, history is unfolding, and they are part of it.

THE EIGHTS is Joanna Miller’s debut novel that takes place mostly over the course of The Eights’ first year at Oxford. It’s an atmospheric and immersive book that follows each of the four women and the development of their friendship, as well as the secrets and struggles they may choose to share or keep to themselves—always, the aftereffects of the war lurks in the shadows. The four key women are written so well, each standing out on her own and so different from her friends, each with her own challenges and familial issues back home. The novel also details the misogynistic pushback and backlash against Oxford’s tepid efforts at equality; many chapters open with a ridiculous set of rules imposed on the women students whereas the men do not face such restrictions, or a mocking piece against these young women who want to pursue an education. This book is more character or relationship-driven than it is about plot, but I’m always happy to read about female friendships and support networks, especially in the face of narrow-minded and conservative men, so I loved reading it.